


Two Nightingales

by Cruel_Irony



Series: Soulmate AUs [1]
Category: Hollyoaks
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Tony Hutchinson's A+ Parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-08-20 17:35:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16560227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cruel_Irony/pseuds/Cruel_Irony
Summary: Harry Thompson has dreaded the day his soulmate mark will appear over his heart since the day he got engaged.Jarry Soulmates AU





	Two Nightingales

Harry feels the burn even in his sleep. A painful stinging over his heart that makes him bolt upright and stifle a cry. He clenches his jaw and tries to breathe through. He tells himself it’s like cramp or heartburn; you just have to suffer through it. But he knows this is just the start of his troubles.

The burning slowly subsides into a dull ache, then it vanishes and that’s how he knows the process is complete. He now has a soulmate mark branded over his heart. A unique picture or pattern that only he and his soulmate bear.

Harry looks at his fiancee’s slumbering form, snoring peacefully, unaware of Harry’s turmoil. Because Harry has a good idea what image he will find on his chest when he looks in the mirror and it won’t match Ste’s.

Carefully, Harry slips out from under the covers and sneaks to the bathroom. He tiptoes down the corridor with more caution than one would expect, but there’s no way he’s risking his family waking up and seeing his mark, not before he’s had the chance to see it and the chance to plan his next move.

The light of the bathroom stings his eyes and it takes a moment for him to see clearly. He braces himself on the sink, scared to look. Looking at it, acknowledging its existence, will make it real and then there’s no delaying the inevitable. The soul mark is the first step into a new life - especially if it’s what he thinks it is.

A steadying breath. In. Out. Harry looks at his reflection, taking in the dark circles and lines of exhaustion that mar a face that used to glow with youth and happiness. His gaze drifts downwards, and he sees the mark over his heart for the first time. He releases a breath.

Two little birds on a branch. Exactly what he wished for and dreaded.

He lifts a hand to touch the raised and tender skin. The redness will fade and soon it will be as if it was always there. As he strokes the feathers of the wings, hope bursts in his heart - this means he has a soulmate. Someone really does love him despite all of his flaws and problems. This is just further proof of their love.

Over the past year, since he turned twenty while sleeping rough on the streets, Harry had feared he was unworthy of having a soulmate. Even seeing thieves, arsonists and murderers with marks on their chests in prison didn’t alleviate his worries. Knowing that Cleo, Holly and Zack would also be old enough for the marks, watching from afar as they found the one destined to love them, made him so jealous - love was so easy for them, they didn’t have to be scared of being a disappointment or not being deserving of a mark in the first place.

All year these thoughts had swirled in Harry’s mind as the days ticked away. Until now, a week before his shotgun wedding, his mark finally comes through and he has to make the biggest decision of his life.

Soulmates aren’t guarantees. Life can still get in the way. Ste, for example, has never found the match for his wreath of roses and thorns and yet he still gets into relationships left, right and centre with people who have no chance of being the one for him. Some people wait for their soulmate, others don’t.

And his dad. Tony’s soulmate is Diane - they are both branded with an intricate sandcastle, an allusion to their first meeting as children on a beach. But still, Harry can’t keep track of all the relationships and affairs his dad has under his belt. Personally, Harry can’t imagine cheating on someone he knows is his true match.

Then there are those who never get a soulmate mark, or, even worse, those who do but the person they are destined to love rejects them. The system can be flawed, but this isn’t one of those times.

Because Harry’s mark leads to someone he already loves and who loves him, without a tattoo telling them to do so. He’s seen these exact birds before and though he’s no ornithologist he knows what kind they are. Nightingales. His soulmate is James Nightingale.

Harry feels all warm and gooey inside at the thought. Imagining his future with James - mornings spent sleeping in, just enjoying each other’s company; watching Countdown while James looks through case files for work; walking down the street hand in hand - it’s at the tip of his fingers. So close.

But what does he do now? He’d been putting off making a decision about anything until he had definite proof that anything he started with James would last and be worth all the consequences. Having his suspicions confirmed means he has only one true option.  
Grateful for his forethought in bringing his phone into the bathroom with him, Harry locks the door just in case and scrolls down the contacts on his phone until he reaches James’ number. He dials and hopes that three o’clock in the morning isn’t too unreasonable a time for the other man.

He calls once, then again and Janes picks up, voice thick with sleep but the concern is heart wrenching.

“Harry? Is everything okay?”

Harry relaxes at the sound of James’ voice, leaning back against the sink, feeling all the worries in his mind quietening down.

“Everything’s fine. Well, mostly.”

“Mostly? Are you in trouble, do you need me to come get you? Where are you?”

“No, it’s nothing like that. I’m at the flat. I just... my soulmate mark came in…”

“Oh.”

Harry chastises himself. Why did he not just blurt it out, and save James the heartache of thinking Harry has Ste’s mark on him. Because he knows exactly what is going through the older man’s head. He thinks Harry woke him up in the middle of the night just to break his heart.

“It’s yours.”

There’s silence on the other end of the line. For a moment, Harry wonders if he’s been cut off. But the sound of James’ heavy breathing comes through the speaker.

“James? Say something. Please.”

“What do you mean it’s mine?”

“I mean my soulmate mark is the same as yours. Two birds sitting together on a branch.”

Harry remembers the first time he noticed the other man’s mark. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen it, but it was the first time he’d cared about what it looked like. Laying in bed with his head pillowed on James’ chest, he had traced the image with a feather light touch that had raised goose flesh over James’ skin. He’d wanted to ask if he knew who had it, or if he thought about who he wanted to have it, but it seemed wrong. Because it was too personal a subject for them at that juncture; and he hadn’t wanted to jinx anything.

Still, Harry had taken every opportunity to admire the mark - proof that no matter what James or his father thought, there was someone out there who was perfect for James. Even if it wasn’t Harry.

But it is him. He has that mark memorised and there’s no chance he was mistaken.

“You’re my soulmate?” James is breathless, as if he dares not say it too loud in case it’s all one sick nightmare.

“I am.” The grin on Harry’s face in uncontrollable. And contagious if the elated laugh on the other end of the line is anything to go by.

“What are you going to do now?” James asks. And this is where reality comes crashing down.

Harry has locked himself in the bathroom, talking to his soulmate on the phone, while his fiancée is still sleeping in their bed. His family hate the Nightingales, James most of all. And the fall out from his mark being a match for James will be explosive.

But James is his soulmate. There’s nothing left to decide.

“I know I’ve been reluctant to make a decision before, James, but there’s no doubt now. I’ll leave Ste and my family to be with you. I know it will be hard, but now I’m even more sure that we’ll be worth it. I’m sorry it’s taken me getting my mark to take this step.” An apology is definitely needed. Starting a new relationship on the wrong foot, without a fresh start, would be a bad move. Even Harry knows that.

“It’s okay, Harry. I understand. Are you sure you want to do this now? There may be better times, when you’re family won’t react so badly. After what I did - revealing the truth about Rose and Dee Dee even though it wasn’t my secret to tell - they won’t accept this.”

Harry sighs. It’s dawning on him that in the other side of the bathroom door are people who will likely hate him for who his soulmate is. “We can’t wait. If we wait any longer without telling them I’ll be married to someone else and the fallout will be worse because we’ve known for so long. Better to do it now rather than drag it out.”

“Okay. If you’re sure.”

“I am.” Harry has never been more sure of anything in his life. He wants to spend the rest of his life with his soulmate.

“Is there anything you need me to do? Pick you up, help you pack, be with you when you tell them? Anything, Harry.”

At this point, James would kill someone if Harry asked him too, and Harry would do the same back. The future is so close they can almost taste it.

“It might be best if you’re not here when they find out. But if you could have champagne on ice for when I get there?”

“Anything and everything for you, Harry. Now get some sleep, you’ll need it.”

“Okay... I love you, my soulmate.”

“I love you, too, soulmate. See you soon.”

Harry hangs up, a lovesick smile plastered on his face. Knowing that James will be waiting for him makes what’s coming next more bearable.

Harry unlocks the door as quietly as he can, switching off the light and creeping back to bed. The thought of having to spend the night sharing a bed with a man who isn’t his soulmate, regardless of the fact he was doing just that half an hour ago and most nights in the past few months, makes his skin crawl.

But he slips under the duvet anyway, and tries to do as James said and rest up for the most stressful day of his life.

*

Sunlight warms Harry’s face as he lays in bed the next morning and slowly brings him to wakefulness. He stretches as he rolls over, gives a sigh of relief at seeing the other side of the bed empty, and sinks back into the bed. Does he have to get up? A day spent in bed sounds lovely right now.

“Harry, wake up.” His dad knocks on the bedroom door, his voice far too chipper for this early in the morning. “Breakfast’s getting cold.”

Harry girds his loins. This isn’t going to be pleasant. His stomach flutters nervously and he knows he wouldn’t be able to keep his breakfast down if he was staying long enough to eat it.

He gets changed, deciding that going out topless with his mark on full display might be bad idea. Wiping sweaty hands on his jeans, Harry emerges from the bedroom and heads to the kitchen.

Tony is in his element making a full-English that turns Harry’s stomach. As much as he loves his dad’s breakfasts and a little voice tells him to make the most of this one because it will be his last, he can’t even look at the impressive spread laid out.

Diane supervises Ant and Rose as they eat, already in their school uniforms, while eating herself. Scott’s there too, babbling on about how bad greasy bacon is for his skincare regime. And of course, Ste sits at the table and gives Harry an exasperated sigh when he spots him.

“Finally, sleeping beauty. I’ve got to open up Ste’s Lunchbox in a few hours and we’ve got to sort out the flowers for the wedding.” Ste reprimands. His voice grates on Harry, who wishes to be with James already.

“Eat up, Harry,” his dad chimes in, “Need your strength.”

“Actually, there’s something I need to talk you all about.”

“Is everything okay, Harry?” Asks Diane, her attention split between him and a spot of tomato sauce on Ant’s cheek.

“Um….”

Maybe he should have accepted James’ offer of support. He really needs a hand to hold right now. Better just bite the bullet.

“My soulmate mark came in last night.”

The grin on Ste’s face is slightly terrifying, but everyone seems happy for him. They must just think he had Ste’s mark.

“Let’s see then.” Ste bonds over and tries to pull at Harry’s t-shirt. Harry backs away and sees the second it registers in the other man’s mind.

His dad is oblivious though, “We’ll have to find a way of fitting it into the wedding ceremony. Soulmates! That’s a special thing, you know, Harry.”

“It’s not mine, is it?” Ste whispers, his heart hardening already. Harry shakes his head mutely. “Well, then, whose is it?” He sounds dangerous, threatening. Harry swallows and opens his mouth, but no words come out.

“Who is it, Harry?” Ste yells, pushing himself into Harry’s personal space, towering over him and Harry feels the urge to cower away.

“Ste? What’s going on?” Tony asks, moving away from hob and closer to the action.

Ste doesn’t bother asking twice; bored of Harry’s lack of answer, he advances in Harry, who scurries backwards until he hits a wall, and starts to grab at the collar of Harry’s top.

“Ste, stop! Get off me!”

Harry tries to push him away, to pry the hands from his chest and neck. Ste just bats Harry’s hands away and rips the collar of the shirt enough that he can see the mark.  
Though not everyone has their mark on display all the time, it’s common to know the marks of people around you. Either because they told you in the hopes that you might have the same one, or because it’s been mentioned in passing as a fun trivia fact. Like your favourite food or colour, your soulmate is just another part of who you are. It’s not some dirty secret. Though Harry’s feels like that at the moment.

So, he notices the moment it clicks in his family’s heads that he has James Nightingale’s mark. Marnie told Diane and Tony what it was back when she was trying to pry the restaurant from their fingers, and Scott dated James a few times and it must have come up in conversation. They all know that James has two nightingales on his chest. And now they know that Harry does too.

“James Nightingale? That sleaze-bag is your soulmate?” Harry flinches away as Ste spits at him, his face twisted into something demonic and cruel. Harry suffers through it - they’ll run out of steam eventually and then he can go to James. “How is that even possible, Harry?”

Ste doesn’t continue and the room is silent. It’s only when Harry looks up from staring at the floor that he realises they’re waiting for his answer. They look at him like they don’t recognise him, Harry can see the disgust brimming in his dad’s eyes and knows there’s no salvaging this. Might as well burn it to the ground.

“James is my soulmate and we’ve been having an affair for the past three months. I wanted to break off the engagement before but I was scared. Now I know for sure that James is who I’m meant to be with. I love him, and he loves me.”

“No. No!” Ste shouts, his breathing laboured, fists clenched by his side. Behind him, Tony shakes his head and sighs heavily.

Quietly, awkwardly, Scott and Diane gather up the kids things and usher them out the door to school. She sends a sympathetic look to her husband, but none of them spare a glance for Harry. They leave him to the mercy of the dogs.

Tony steps down into the living room, undoing the apron tied around his waist. Harry tries to press himself into the wall.

“How could you, Harry? I don’t think I recognise you now. Jumping into bed with that vile solicitor - that’s not my son. That’s not the boy I raised! How could you do this - to the family, to Ste?”

“It was an affair, dad. Who hasn’t been guilty of that? You’ve cheated on Diane, Ste’s cheated on me - twice! But he’s my soulmate! James and I fit together; we compliment each other and we love each other. It was more than an affair. And I’m sorry for everything, but I have to choose him.”

“No.” Ste begs, firmly in denial. He grabs onto Harry’s shoulders, and puts a hand on his neck. Unfortunately, Harry has no room to move away, he can barely turn his face away. “No. You don’t have to choose him just because a mark says so. You can still be with me. He’s forcing you to be with him, but you don’t have to. We can make this work - soulmarks are flawed, we all know that. Please, Harry.”

“I’m sorry, Ste. He’s not forcing me into anything, it’s the opposite actually. I’m choosing him because I want him. I want to be loved for who I am, not for who people want me to be. I want to spend the rest of my life loving that man. I don’t care that you think he’s some ‘vile solicitor’. I love him.” Harry can’t help the smile that spreads over his face at the thought of James. He’s probably at home now, fretting over every last detail to make his homecoming perfect.

He realises that it was the wrong thing to do, when a fist expertly crashes into his cheek, and he stumbles to the floor. His vision blurs, and he struggles to pick himself up. Did Ste just punch him?

Harry looks up in confusion, just in time for Ste to spit on him. “You disgust me, Harry. You’re a sick, disgusting, selfish cheat! You and James deserve each other - two rotten people in a rotten life. I hope he enjoys the sex - it’s the only good thing about you! How did I ever think you were a good choice?” Ste looks ready to hit him again even as Tony restrains him. Shaking off the other man, Ste storms out of the flat.

Now it’s just Tony looming over his son. Harry stays on the floor, looking up tentatively. He’s not going to get up just to be sent back down again.

“Ste’s right.” The words are a knife carving into Harry’s heart, though deep down he expected this. It still hurts to know he means nothing to his father. “Go be with James if that’s what you want, but don’t come crawling back here when it all falls apart. I don’t want to see you here when I get back. And I want your stuff gone.”

With that, Tony leaves his son alone. As the door slams, the tears finally come. Harry sobs and curls into himself. Why does it hurt so much to have his suspicions confirmed? To finally know what he had suspected for months - that Ste was more Tony’s son than him, that he was only worth his relationship with Ste, and that his dad was no real dad at all.

The smell of burning pulls Harry out of his stupor, and he dashes to the kitchen to save the charred sausages from catching fire. His appetite is long gone now, and he just wants to sleep. But he clears up kitchen until it almost sparkles and his sobbing has subsided and his tears are dry.

Then he pulls out his phone and calls James. He picks up after the first ring, for which Harry is grateful.

“Harry, how did it go? Are you okay?” At the hearing such a kind voice after that fallout, the tears start to return.

“I’m okay, all things considered. But I might have to take you up on the offer to pack. I’ve got to be out by the this afternoon.”

Harry can practically hear James’ jaw grind in his effort not to get angry at Harry’s family. He knows how much the older man despises terrible parenting, Mac and Tony are at the top of his shit list.

“I’ll be as soon as I can. You make a head start and let me in, yeah.”  
Harry nods but realised that James can’t see him through the phone so croaks our an agreement.

“James, I love you. So much.”

“I love you, too, Harry. I won’t be long.” James hangs up and Harry wipes at his eyes. Time to pack his life and move out.

*

By the time James knocks on the door fifteen minutes later with two sorely needed coffees, Harry has dug out some of the nicer suitcases in the flat and has decided to take for himself.

Harry opens the door and pulls James into tight hug, burying his face in crook of his neck. James hugs back, as much as he can with his hands full.

“Sorry I took longer than I said, I thought you could do with a pick me up. Your favourite.” He holds it out as a peace offering. Harry takes it, with an added kiss on James’ cheek.

“Thank you. Now, let’s get started. I’m sure you tell which clothes are mine and which are Ste’s.”

Harry leads him into the bedroom and opens the wardrobe. It is painfully obvious, actually, that Ste owns little more than tracksuits and work clothes. Together, Harry and James make quick work of clearing it out, all clothes folded neatly into one of the suitcases. Next they pike in sparse toiletries, pictures and trinkets. There isn’t much that Harry wants to take, and, in the end, it all fits into one suitcase. Harry guesses being homeless several times in the past has made him a light packer and less sentimental than he was two years ago.

As he moves the bag to the door, and surveys the flat for anything he missed, knowing he wouldn’t be allowed back to get it, it hits him again that he leaving home for good. Not just moving in with his soulmate, but kicked out. Like trash.

There’ll be no weekend visits; no popping round for tea with his step-mum; no invites to birthday parties or anniversaries; no Christmas dinner with them; nothing. But he knows that James will make up for all of that, or at least he’ll try to. They’ll be their own family. They’ll spend Christmas together, basking in each other’s love. They’ll watch Countdown and go on romantic walks. So long as Harry has James everything will work out fine.

James must have noticed his mood, for he wraps Harry up in his arms and doesn’t let go.

“I’m sorry you had to do this. I wish I could have done something, anything, to make it different.”

Harry talks into James’ chest, eyes on the soulmate mark showing through his shirt. “There’s nothing you could’ve done. They’re the ones who did this, let a petty grudge get in the way of being happy for me finding my soulmate. I know I should’ve done something earlier and not strung this out so long. I hurt so many people - you, me, Ste, my family - because I was a coward. But I’m not anymore. I want this and I’m not going let fear get in the way of getting what I want.”

He looks up at James’ awestruck face, and leans up to kiss him again.

“I love you.”

“I love you, Harry Thompson. You really are the perfect soulmate. Now, I did leave some very nice champagne at home. So why don’t we take this back to ours and we can get to know each other as soulmates.”

“That sounds perfect.”


End file.
